Take a trip to Puerto Rico at chamber's Fiestas Patronales

November 17, 2006|By Beth Feinstein-Bartl Special Correspondent

For many transplanted Puerto Ricans in South Florida, attending the Fiestas Patronales and Business Expo is like taking a trip back home. The annual celebration features an array of music, food and crafts from the island.

"It's a cultural event for the entire family -- mom, dad, the kids, and grandma and grandpa," said Santos Arroyo, membership director of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Broward County.

Activities today, from 6 p.m. to midnight, will include musical acts and carnival rides at the Pembroke Pines Recreation Center, 7400 Pines Blvd. About 140 booths with a mix of business, crafts and food vendors will be set up.

A job fair and health fair are new additions to the event, said Frank Nieves, chamber president and a festival founder.

The chamber event is based on the Fiestas Patronales in Puerto Rico, a tradition dating back hundreds of years, stemming from the time of Spanish conquest. Celebrations throughout the island are dedicated to different patron saints, Nieves said.

Although the festival heavily focuses on Puerto Rican culture, it will include foods and crafts representing other Hispanic countries. Several American businesses will have booths at the expo, Nieves said.

"We are a melting pot," he said. "We want to bring the different communities together."

Since the chamber began organizing the celebration, attendance has steadily grown from 1,000 people in 2001 to 20,000 visitors last year, said Arroyo, who's also president of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Chamber for Palm Beach County.

The celebration became so popular that public demand led to creation of a second festival, which took place for the first time in August in Delray Beach, Nieves said.

One of the major draws typically has been the music lineup, which will feature mostly salsa and some reggaeton performers, Nieves said. A highlight will be the tribute performance Saturday night to Ray Barretto, a renowned conga player from Puerto Rico who died earlier this year.

Susa y Epifanio, a comedy team from Puerto Rico, will make their first appearance at the festival with shows in Spanish on Saturday and Sunday, Nieves said.

Free salsa dance lessons will be offered, as well as jam sessions, in which people can bring percussion instruments from home to play in between sets.

Admission is $6 on Friday and Saturday and $7 on Sunday for visitors 12 and older. Special discount rates will be in effect Saturday: youths ages 12 to 18 pay $2.50 before 5 p.m.; and people 19 and older pay $5 before 6 p.m. Also Saturday, children and adults with developmental disabilities will get free, unlimited carnival rides from 2 to 6 p.m.